Wade Redden and Scott Gomez, assuming their teams are willing to do them a solid, are about to hit the open market.

The NHL and NHLPA agreed on "accelerated compliance buyouts" that can be used at any time before Saturday, which means the Rangers (Redden) and Canadiens (Gomez) can cut ties to those players officially, rather than force them to sit out the season until the original buyout window opened, which was the initial plan.

All other NHL teams can do the same, but it was a pressing issue for the Rangers and Canadiens—and, more obviously, the players themselves.

The end result, according to multiple reports: Gomez ($7.36 million cap hit, $10 million over two seasons remaining) and Redden ($6.5 million cap hit, $10 million over two years remaining) will be free to sign anywhere, assuming they're actually bought out, and their former teams will carry their full cap hits for one more season, which would've happened anyway.

In this case, though, the teams will pay the players their full salary in 2013, rather than 2/3, which remains the rule for buyouts after this season. If Redden and Gomez sat without receiving a buyout, though, they would've been paid in full—so the point is moot.

Other than preventing the bought-out players from injuring themselves elsewhere, there's no tangible benefit for the teams involved—unless you count publicly delinking themselves from their horrible contracts, whether they remain on the cap for another year or not.

Gomez and Redden remain potentially useful (if horrifically overpaid) players, as Canucks Army's Cam Charron noted. Now, they'll likely have their shot to prove that elsewhere without less of a target on their backs.